Complaint Lodged with the UN over Contempt of Court Action against Li Shengwu

Non-governmental organisation, the Community Action Network, has filed a complaint to the UN regarding the contempt of court action against Li Shengwu.

CAN said that it filed a complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur – a group of investigators appointed by the UN to check on human rights issues.

In doing so, it explained that “concerns that private conversations among friends may also run the risk of contempt were raised by the activists and members of parliament; the government’s clampdown on Li Shengwu’s private facebook post has proven those fears to be justified.”

The AGO called it an “egregious and baseless attack on the Singapore judiciary and constitutes an offence of contempt of court.”

This is CAN’s statement on its complaint to the UN:

“The Community Action Network has filed a complaint to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on behalf of Li Shengwu, grandson of the late Lee Kuan Yew. The complaint was made in response to the Attorney General’s Chambers applying to the High Court to begin proceedings for contempt of court against Mr Li over a Facebook post he published on July 15 in which he said that the Singapore government is “very litigious” and has a “pliant court system”

Before beginning proceedings, the AGC asked Mr Li to delete the post, and publish an apology on his Facebook page. This is despite the fact that the comments Mr Li made on the court system was a “friends only” post which was subsequently re=published by various online media outlets without his permission.

The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. It also communicates complaints made by claimants to the Singapore government for a response. A summary of the complaints is then presented to the Human Rights Council where a representative of the Singapore government will be present.

In 2015 a group of activists started a campaign “Don’t Kena Contempt” on social media to raise awareness of the arbitrary and draconian aspects of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Bill. The campaign was concerned that the law gave the government too much powers to determine contempt, and the lack of clarity would lead people to opt for the safety of silence, rather than risk falling foul of the law.

Concerns that private conversations among friends may also run the risk of contempt were raised by the activists and members of parliament; the government’s clampdown on Li Shengwu’s private facebook post has proven those fears to be justified. The government has initiated similar clampdowns against other individuals such as film maker Lynn Lee, activist Han Hui Hui, blogger Alex Au cartoonist Leslie Chew and lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam.”